Columbus, OH – On Friday, The Buckeye Institute filed its amicus brief in Tiger Lily v. United States Department of Housing and Urban Development with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, calling on the court to end the eviction moratorium that makes it increasingly difficult for low-income Americans to obtain affordable housing and inflicts financial hardships on small landlords. 

“The Buckeye Institute is asking the court of appeals to affirm the district court’s decision that Congress did not give Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) the authority to rewrite millions of private rental agreements across the country,” said Jay R. Carson, senior litigator at The Buckeye Institute. “Further, while the CDC’s intentions in imposing the moratorium may have been good, the repercussions are that small landlords face difficulties paying their mortgages, taxes, and for the upkeep on their properties, which studies show lead many to exit the market, leaving fewer housing options available.”

In its brief, The Buckeye Institute argues that in enacting a nationwide moratorium on evictions, the federal government, through the CDC, assumed powers well beyond those authorized by Congress. This is the second amicus brief The Buckeye Institute has filed against the unconstitutional eviction ban. Its first brief was filed in Terkel v. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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UPDATE: July 23, 2021, with its unanimous ruling in Tiger Lily v. United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit agreed with The Buckeye Institute that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention well exceeded its legal authority when it issued a nationwide ban on evictions. Read Buckeye’s press release.